Refrigeration apparatus



Jan. 16, 1945. G E" REFRIGERAT ION APPARATUS Filed July 22, 1942 2Sheets-Sheet 2 9 070 Effulse INVENTOR Patented Jan. 16, 1945 2.367.502REFRIGERATION APPARATUS George E. Hulse, New Haven, Conn., assignor toThe Safety Car .Heating and Lighting Company, Inc., a corporation ofDelaware I Application July 22, 1942, SerialNo. 451,951

4 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigeration apparatus, and more particularlytoapparatus for refrigerating railroad'freight cars.

. One of the objects of this invention is to provide new and improvedrefrigeration for a freight 6 car. Another object is to provideapparatus of the above character which is simple, thoroughly practical,and durable in use. Another object is to provide apparatus of the abovecharacter which may be manufactured and installed with a minimum amountof labor and other expenses. Another object is to provide apparatus ofthe above character which will be efficient and dependable in operation.Still another object is to provide apparatus of the above characterwhich will be comparatively free from mechanical complications. Anotherobject is to provide new and improved automatic means for maintainingperishable products at a substantially constant temperature duringshipment. Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed outhereinafter. v

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts as will beexemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described and the scopeof the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of the variouspossible embodiments of this invention,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectionaldiagrammatic view of a portion of arailroad car with my refrigeration apparatus installed thereon;

Figure 2 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale and partly insection, of the fan driving mechanism shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is aside elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the damperapparatus shown in Figure l; and,

Figure 5 is a horizontal section, on an en.- larged scale, of the fantaken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral viewso't the drawings.

As conductive to a clearerunderstand of certain features of thisinvention, many difliculties have been experienced in maintainingreliably desired temperatures in refrigerator cars which transportperishables throughout a wide range of climates. Because of temperaturevariations encountered, refrigeration requirements vary considerablyduring a trip. Furthermore, if the refrigeration apparatus is of acomplicated nature, break downs may be experienced resulting in loss ofthe load. Accordingly, it is another object of this invention to providea simple and eflicient car refrigeration apparatus which isautomatically controlled and in which the hazard of mechanicalbreakdowns is reduced to a minimum.

Referring now to the drawings, and to Figure l in particular, an icebunker, generally indicated at III, is positioned within a compartment,generally indicated at H, in the end of the railroad car, generallyindicated at l2. Ice bunker compartments are preferably positioned ateach end of the car, but, as the operation and control of each of thebunkers are similar, details of construction are limited to the bunkercompartment and its controlling mechanism shown in Figure 1. Air fromthe car enters compartment ll through an opening I5 formed in the upperportion of compartment partition wall I 6. The size of this opening iscontrolled by a damper assembly, generally indicated at H, which in turnis controlled by a thermostatic bulk 80. Air is circulated through thecompartment and the car by means of a fan, generally indicated at l3,driven from the axle ll. When the car is moved, the air is circulated byfan I3 in the direction of the arrows shown in Figure 1, and the degreeof circulation of air, and thus refrigeration, is con-. trolled by thedegree to which the louvers 8| of thedamper assembly are opened.

Car I2 is of'theu'sual refrigerated car construction, having a bunker-ateach end, a dead air-space 18 in the top portion of the car, and

insulated side walls, end walls, floor l9, and

false ceiling 20. Partition l6 extends between ceiling 20 andfloor l9,forming compartment II which contains ice bunker ID. The ice bunker ispreferably of heavy wire mesh construction, and its sides are spacedfrom the car end wall 2|, the car side walls, and partition IS. The

bottom of the ice bunker is preferably spaced a substantial distancefrom the bottom of the car. Thus, air passing through the compartmentcan circulate around the bunker and underneath it. The top edges of thewiremesh forming the ice bunker are secured to a rectangular-shapedframe 22, which in turn is secured to the ceiling 20 of the car in anysuitable manner. A tray I00 is preferably formed on the floor of the carbeneath the bunker, and water collected by this tray drains from the carthrough drainage pipe The bunker is preferably filled through twohatches extending through the roof of the car. As these hatches aresimilar in construction, details of construction will be limited to -thehatch shown in Figure 1. This hatch, generally indicated at 23, extendsthrough the dead air space H in the top of the car and opens into thetop of the ice bunker. The side walls 24 of the hatch preferably slantinwardly, forming supports for an insulating plug, generally indicatedat 25, which has a dead air space 26 in its center and a cushion 21 madeof a resilient material such as rubber extending around its edges. Afterthe bunker is loaded, insulating plug 25 is placed in the hatch opening,and its cushion 21 wedges against the side walls 24 of the hatch toeffectively seal the hatch opening.- A hatch cover 29 is preferablyplaced overthe top of the hatch and is secured to the top of the car inany suitable manner.

As best shown in Figures 1 and 2, fan I3 is driven from a drum 29secured to the axle H of wheel 39. A bracket 3| (Figures 2 and 3) issecured to the floor l9 of the car in any suitable manner. A barrelmember, generally indicated at 32, is pivotally connected to bracket 3|through lug 33 by a pin 34. A rod member, generally indicated at 35, hasa portion 36 which extends into the sleeve portion 31 of barrel member32 and is mounted for longitudinal movement therein (Figure 2). Thrustcollars 39 and 39 are formed on the barrel and rod members,respectively, and a compression spring 40 extends between these thrustcollars, urging the thrust collars away from each other. A yoke,generally indicated at 4| (Figures 2 and 3), is formed on the lower endof rod member 35, and a shaft 42 extends through and is rotatablymounted in the lower ends of the legs 43 and 44 of yoke 4|.

A bracket 45 (Figure 2) is mounted on the floor of the car beneath thefan and has a jack shaft 46 rotatably mounted on its arms 41 and 49. Aradius rod 49 (Figures 2 and 3) extends between jack shaft 46 and shaft42, maintaining shaft 42 the radial length of rod 49 from jack shaft 46.Shafts 42 and 46 are rotatably mounted in the bearing portions 59 and(Figure 3) of the radius rod. A pulley 52 is secured to jack shaft 46 inany suitable manner and is connected by a belt 53 to a pulley 54 securedto shaft 42. A friction Wheel 55 (Figures 2 and 3) is secured to shaft42 between the legs 43 and 44 of yoke 4|. Thus, compression spring 40presses downwardly on rod member 35 and, acting through yoke 4|, pressesthe friction wheel into contact with the drum 29 while radius rod 49(Figure 2) prevents upward movement of the friction wheel. As the drumis driven by the axle, the friction wheel drives the jack shaft 46through shaft 42, pulley 54, belt 53, and pulley 52.

The fan pulley 56 (Figure 1) is driven through belt 51 (Figures 1 and 2)by a pulley 59 (Figures 2 and 3) secured to jack shaft 46. Pulley 56(Figure 5) is secured to the fan shaft 59 which is mounted in thebearings of a pair of brackets secured to the floor of the car, one ofwhich is shown at 60. The fan has a plurality of flat blades 6| (Figures2 and 5) which extend longitudinally of and have their flat sides inplanes extending radially from the axis of shaft 59. The ends of the fanblades 6| are secured to annular rings 62 and 63 which are connected toshaft 59 through spiders 64 and 65 and collars 66 and 61.

The fan housing, generally indicated at 69. has a body portion 69 whichcovers the fan blades and opens into the lading space of the car throughan opening I9 (Figures 1,2 and 5) formed in partition l9 adjacent thefloor l9 of the car. The side walls H and 12 (Figure 5) of the housinghave circular openings 13 and 14' formed therein which are radiallydisposed with respect to the axis of shaft 69. These openings, as bestshown in Figure 5, are positioned to the left of partition l6, as viewedin Figure 1, within compartment As the fan is driven, the rotation ofthe fan blades draws air into the housing through openings 13 and I4 andexhausts it into the lading space of the car through opening 19 inpartition I6. It should be noted that this fan is so constructed that itwill exhaust air from compartment regardless of the direction in whichit is driven, and thus is operable to circulate the air through thecompartment and the car in the direction of the arrows in Figure l,regardless of the direction in which the car is moving.

The damper assembly H, which regulates the flow of air throughcompartment H and thus the temperature of the car, is controlled by bulb99. This bulb, which is mounted on the ceiling of the car a considerabledistance from partition I6, is connected to bellows 92 (Figure 4) byconduit 93. The expansion and contraction of bellows 92, which issecured to ceiling 29, are controlled by a suitable volatile liquidcontained within bulb 99. A lever 94 is -pivotally mounted on a bracket99 connected to the base of the bellows by a pin 94a and is pivotallyconnected to a lug 99 on bellows 92 by pin 91. A spring 99, having oneend adjustably connected to the base of bellows 92 by threaded pin 98aand the other end to lever 94, normally resiliently urges lever 94toward car ceiling 20. The end of lever 94 is pivotally connected to alink 99 which, as it moves upwardly and downwardly, shuts and openslouvers 9| through arms 90. The desired temperature in the car is set byscrewing pin 99a into or out of the base of the bellows. This varies thetension of spring 99, thus varying the pressure required to move louvers9|. Thus, as the liquid within bulb 99 is volatilized by the risingtemperature within the lading space of the car, this pressure acts uponbellows 92 to expand it, moving lever 94..downwardly to open louvers 9|.As the temperature within the car drops, the volatile liquid iscondensed, spring 99 moves lever 94 upwardly, and louvers 9| are closed,

Thus, in operation, fan I: is driven from the axle of the wheel drawingcooled air from the ice bunker compartment and exhausting it beneath thefloor racks into the lading space of the car. This air filters upwardlythrough and around the load in the car absorbing heat therefrom, andwhen it reaches the upper portions of the car, it flows into the icebunker compartment through the opening in the upper portion of partitioniii to replace the air being withdrawn from the compartment by fan |3.This air is cooled by the ice bunker and then is again exhausted intothe car by fan l3. This circulation continues until the temperaturewithin the car is lowered to the desired degree, at which time thethermostatic control automatically limits or prevents furthercirculation by throttling or closing the louvers 9|. When thetemperature again rises in the lading space, the louvers areautomatically opened to start or increase the circulation through thecar and bunker. Thus, the

bunker, fan, and damper assembly coact to refrigerate the car andautomatically maintain the temperature; therein at any desired degree,

A further. advantage lies in the fact that the car is effici'entlyrefrigerated regardless of the speed at which the car is moved. This isaccomplished by the fact that the degree of circulation within the caris regulated by the degree to which the louvers are opened, and this inturn is controlled by the temperature of the car. Thus, the fan, whichis set to efliciently refrigerate the car at low speeds, cannot overcoolthe car by increased circulation when the car is moved at a high speed.An additional advantage of the present type of construction lies in thefact that circulation of the air by convection through the bunkercompartment and lading space takes place when the fan is not operating.This is permitted because there is a clear nassageway through the fanfrom the compartment into he lading space of the car when the car is notin motion.

Thus, it will be seen that this apparatus is designed to operate in areliable manner to maintain a substantially constant temperature withinthe car, and also its efficiency is markedly increased due to thesimplicity of its structure and operation. Thus, practical and efllcientapparatus for refrigerating a railroad car has been disclosed in whichthe several objects hereinabove mentioned are successfully accomplishedin a practical manner.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention, and asmany changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it Is tobe understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth, or shown in theaccompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

I claim:

i. In railway car structure, the combination with a chassis assembly anda wall structure forming a lading space and an ice bunker, with a topopening and a bottom opening placing the lading space and ice bunker incommunication, whereby air tends to circulate from said lading spacethrough said top opening to said ice bunker and thence through saidbottom opening to said lading space again; of a damper assemblypositioned in said top opening to restrict the air circulationtherethrough; temperature responsive means positioned in said ladingspace and operatively connected to said damper assembly to control thesame whereby the air circulation is reduced as the temperature in thelading spacefalls; a fan positioned in said bottom opening having itsinlet within said bunker and operativeregardless of the direction it isdriven to exhaust air from the bottom of said ice bunker into the bottomof said lading space, said fan being of a construction to permitsubstantially unrestricted flow of air through said bottom opening whensaid fan is not operating; and means mechanically connecting said fan tothe car axle to drive the fan without introducing air into the car,whereby movement of the car results in the operation of said fan inpromoting the moving of air from the bottom oi the ice bunker and intothe bottom 01' the lading space and this air movement is restricted bysaid damper assembly in accordance with the control efiect influenced bysaid temperature responsive means.

2. In railway car structure, the combination with a chassis assembly anda wall structure forming a lading space and an ice bunker, with a topopening and a bottom opening placing the lading space and ice bunker incommunication, whereby air tends to circulate from said lading spacethrough said top opening to said ice bunker and thence through saidbottom opening to said lading space again; of a damper assemblypositloned in said top opening to restrict the air circulationtherethrough; temperature responsive means positioned in said ladingspace and operatively connected to said damper assembly to control thesame whereby the air circulation is reduced as the temperature in thelading space fails; a fan positioned in said bottom opening having itsinlet within said bunker and operative regardless of the direction it is'driven to exhaust air from the bottom of said ice bunker into thebottom of said lading space, said tan being or a con-' struction topermit substantially unrestricted flow of air through said bottomopening when said fan is not rotating; and driving means for said fancomprising, means mounted on an axle of the chassis assembly, a contactroller riding on said means to be driven by rotation of said axle, a airofpulleys one of which is connwted directly with said roller and theother of which is connected to said fan, and belt means connecting saidpulleys whereby the rotation of said axle is transmitted to said fan.

3. Apparatus as described in claim 2 wherein the means mounted on theaxle is a drum and wherein said contact roller is mounted to ride onsaid drum on an, extensible pivot arm with one end of the arm pivoted tothe chassis assembly and the other end carrying the roller, a coilspring mounted on said extensible arm and biasing said extensible armtoward its extended position, and a rod pivoted at its two endsrespectively at the axes of said pulleys and holding said pulleys inspaced relationship to insure the proper tension on said belt means.

4. Apparatus as described in claim 2 wherein said fan is mounted on ahorizontal axis with air inlets along its axis, said fan having aplurality of radial vanes spaced from said axis whereby the air isthrown radially from said axis and having a fan housing which directsthe exhaust air to said ice bunker.

GEORGE E. HUIBE.

